Bobbie tiptoed through the kitchen. She had grabbed the last chunk of chocolate cake from a plate on the counter and was quietly making her way into the living room when the lights suddenly snapped on. It was Harlan. He was sitting in a living room chair in his bathrobe.

"I assumed you'd be back by eleven," he said.

"Well… I said I'd be back later," Bobbie answered lamely.

"I knew you'd be back later," Harlan said, peeved. "If you came back at all you'd be back later."

"Well… I'm back now." Bobbie grinned sheepishly and continued munching on the cake.

Harlan's arm stretched to Bobbie's shoulder and pulled a piece of concrete off her coat. "Is this… rubble?" he asked her accusingly.

"It was just a little exercise," Bobbie replied with a shrug. "Just to stay fit."

Harlan closed his eyes, knowing what she meant by that. "You know how I feel about that, Bobbie! We can't blow our cover again!"

Bobbie looked down at her singed coat. "Honey, the building was coming down anyway," she said, trying to explain.

"You knocked down a building?" Harlan was astounded.

"It was on fire!" Bobbie argued. "Structurally unsound! I performed a public service, and you're acting like that's a bad thing."

"It is a bad thing, Bobbie. Uprooting our family again so you can relive the glory days is a very bad thing!"

Bobbie's brows furrowed in irritation, unable to even fathom the words coming out of her husband's mouth. Her husband, whom she remembered to have once been quite enthusiastic about his superhero work. "Reliving the glory days is much better than acting like they never happened." She crossed her arms and stared pointedly at him.

Harlan sighed. "Yes, they happened. Yes, they were good. But like it or not, this is our reality now. Us, and our family." He cut off with a bitter laugh. "I can't believe you don't even want Ash to participate in her graduation."

"What graduation?" Bobbie asked. "She's only moving from fourth grade to the fifth!"

"But it's a ceremony!" Harlan argued.

"It's ridiculous is what it is," Bobbie scoffed. "Mediocrity is so dull they have to come up with new ways to celebrate it. But if there was someone that was really exceptional - "

"This is not about you," Harlan firmly cut in. "This is about Ash."

"Oh, so you want to talk about Ash?" Bobbie was getting impatient. "Fine. We'll talk about Ash. Let's start by discussing just how great she'd be in sports!"

"You know very well why she can't be in sports!" Harlan growled.

"Because she'd be GREAT!" Bobbie boomed.

"This is NOT about YOU!" Harlan exploded.

Some loose papers on the coffee table suddenly rustled as a breeze came through the room.

Bobbie sighed. "All right, Ash. I know you're listening. Come on out."

"Vincent, you too, young man," Harlan added.

Ash moved out from behind a door as Vincent rematerialized from behind the couch.

"It's okay, kids," Bobbie said gently. "We're just having a discussion."

"Pretty loud discussion," Vincent muttered.

"But that's okay," Bobbie told them, trying to sound upbeat. "What's important is that Daddy and I are always a team, always united… against… uh…" Bobbie wasn't sure where she was going with this. "The forces of…"

"Pigheadedness?" Harlan suggested.

Bobbie hesitated. "I was going to say 'evil' or something."

Harlan stood up and stretched his arms around the kids' shoulders. "We're sorry we woke you," he told them. "Everything's okay. Go ahead and go back to bed. It's late."

Ash and Vincent passed by, mumbling a goodnight and hurrying off back to their rooms.

"In fact," Harlan added as they passed. "We should all be in bed." He cast Bobbie a look, and she frowned at him, walking away without another word.

Harlan sighed heavily. He hated arguing with his wife. But, unless the law somehow changed and allowed Supers to be legal again, he knew that the arguments wouldn't end.

Trudging to the living room lamp, he shut it off and then headed over to bed.